Die folding and seaming machine



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F. A. WALSH. DIE FOLDING AND SEAMING MACHINE.

No. 445,738. Patented Feb. 3,1891.

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RA. WALSH. DIE FOLDING AND SBAMING MACHINE.

No. 445,738. Patented Feb. 3,1891.

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DIE FOLDING AND SEAMING MACHINE,

Patented Feb. 3, 1891 UNITED STATES FRANCIS A. IVALSH, OF

PATENT OFFICE.

MILIVAUKEE, VISCONSIN.

DIE FOLDING AND SEAMING MACHINE.v

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 445,738, dated February 3, 1891. Application filed April 23, 1889 Serial No. 38,317. (No model.)

, To ail whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS A. WALsH,of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee, and in the State of lVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin DieFolding and Seaming Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to die folding and seamingmachines, being somewhat analogous to what is set forth in my applications, Serial Nos. 332,267 and 332,268, filed December 2, 1880, as well as in my application Serial No. 366,478, filed September 29, 1890; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination` of parts to be hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l represents a front elevation of my machine, partly in section; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, an enlarged detail front elevation, partly in section, of certain of the parts shown in Fig. l, Fig. 4, an enlarged detail side elevation, partly in section, of certain of the parts shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 5, a section on line 5 5, Fig. 2; Fig. (i, a section on line 6 6, Fig. l; Fig. 7, a detail view of a clutch mechanism that forms part of the machine, and Fig. 8 is a detail View illustrating the folds made by said machine.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents the standards, and B the base, of my machine, this base being provided with vertical ribs d and lateral arms b, the latter and face-plates c bolted thereto, serving as bearings for a shaft C, that has a crank C connected to a slide D by means of an adjustable hanger E. The slide D works in guides F, adj ustably connected to the base B adjacent to the vertical ribs c, and thus said slide may be accurately centered. On its under side the slide'I) is provided with a slot CZ, that extends from front to rear, and recesses on each side of this slot serve to receive dies f h, these dies being held in place by bolts g or other suitable means. A portion of the dies extend into the slot cl and support the shouldered and recessed shank 't' of a plunger G, therecesses in said shank serving as seats for the spiral sprin gs j, that bear against the Slide D.

As shown, the dief has a beveled point that conforms to a beveled groove k in a shoulder m of the plunger G, and the die h has a beveled groove g', to receive a beveled point 0 on another shoulder m of said plunger, the groove 7e and point 0 being the lower dies of the machine. By beveling the dies the faces of each form an acute angle, and the Vertical faces of all said dies will be normally at right angles to an opposing sheet of metal, as shown in Fig. 5. Just above the shoulders fm, m I provide the plunger G with gage-plates 7c', the latter being more or less thick in proportion to the width of the folds it is desirable to make with the dies.

Carried on the slide l) is a reservoir H, and a duct II leads from this reservoir down through the plunger G into a groove p in the shoulder fm thereof, and serves to conduct flux, cement, or solder from said reservoir to the fold made by the dies h o. That portion of the duct lI that enters the reservoir H is provided with a slot and enters a tube H2, having a corresponding slot, while Within this tube is a vertically-adjustable stem H3, reduced at its lower end to engage said duct and cut off more or less of the slot therein when the slide I) makes its downward stroke, whereby the flow of the sealing material is regulated. That portion of the duct H above the plunger G tits loosely in the slide D, so as not to interfere with the vertical movement of vsaid plunger and slide.

As best illustrated in Fig. 5, I prefer to make the reservoir H with double walls and connect the space between these walls with a pipe for steam or other heatingfluid, whereby the material in said reservoir may be melted and kept in a liquid state.

Held in the base B by means of aset-screw is the shank of a horn T, the latter being arranged under and parallel to the plunger, and this horn is provided with gage-pins t, controlled by spiral springs t', as best illustrated in Fig. 4.

The crank-shaft G carries a drive-pulley C2, the latter being normally loose, and on its under side said shaft is grooved to receive a sliding key c', for engagement with a recess c2 in the hub of said pulley, this engagement being automatically effected by means of a spring e, arranged in a transverse slot in the IOO crank-shaft to bear against the outer end of said key.

A transverse groove of suitable contour is made in the key c to receive the Wedgeshaped end of a lever q, the other end of this lever being` pivoted to a stud on the machine, as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 7. The wedge-shaped end of the lever q is curved so as to correspond with the contour 'of the crank-shaft C, and is held up against the latter by a rod S, connected to a treadle R, this treadle being controlled by a spiral spring R', as illustrated in Fig. l.

lVhile the machine above described is more particularly designed for folding and seaming the edges of sheet metal in the process of making vessels, it is equally Well adapted to the .folding and seaming of metal sheets for roofing and other purposes.

The operation of the machine for the purpose of folding and seaming the edges of sheet metal in the manufacture of vessels is as follows: A sheet of metal bent into an approximate form of the Avessel desired is placed so that the edges thereof rest on .the shoulders m m of the plungerG and against the gage-plates 7c. The treadle R `is nowdepressed to actuate the rod S and lever q, whereby the Wedge-shaped end of this lever is Withdrawn from the slot in the key c', the latter being Jforced by the spring e'into the recesses c2 in the hub of the drive-pulley C2 to start the machine.

latter descending carries the plunger G dow-n against the horn T, where it is stopped, said slide continuing its descent against the springsj to cause the acute-angled dies `f 71. to engage the metal with the corresponding dies k 0, whereby the right and left folds shown by Fig. 8 are formed in the opposing edges of the metal sheet. lVhen this operation takes place, the body of the metal sheet inclinesl C2, and thereby stop the action ofthe ma-v chine, the treadle R having been releasedby t-he operative. Attention is called to the fact that when the folding operation takes place the body of the metal sheet is free to cant toward the bevel sides of the diesf 0 to thus insure the formation of the hooks shown inFig. 8. After the operation of folding'lias been completed the folded edges of the metal sheet are hooked together and placed on the horn T, after which the machine is again started to cause an impact of the plunger against said folded and interlocked edges of said zsheet, whereby the operation of seaming iseffected.

The revolution 4of the` crank-shaft C actuates the slide D, and the` As shown in several of the figures, I prefer to provide the lower face of the plunger with an anvil having a groove therein to receive the seam formed by the operation just described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination of areciprocative slide,

dies carried thereby, a plunger reciprocativein the slide, dies carried by the plunger in opposition to those first named, and a stop for limiting the travel of the plunger,`substan tially as set forth. v

42. The combination of reciprocative dies, a plunger provided with dies opposed to those first named, and a horn opposed to the plunger, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a pair of opposing dies, a groove adjacent to one of the dies for the reception of sealing material, and suit-able means for engaging and disengaging said dies, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of a pair of opposing dies, a reservoir for sealing material, a conduit leading from the reservoir to a point adjacent to one of the dies, and suitable means for engaging and disengaging said dies, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a pair of opposing dies, a reservoir for sealing material, a conduit leading from the reservoir toa point adjacent to one of the dies, a regulator for controlling the flow of said material, and suitable means for engaging and disen gagin g said dies,

Isubstantially as set forth.

(5. The combination of a pair of opposing dies, a reservoir for sealing material, a conduit leading from the reservoir to a point adjacent to one of the dies, suitable means for keeping the sealin g material in a melted state, and a reciprocating mechanism for engaging and disengaging said dies, substantiallyas set forth.

'7. The combination of a reciprocative slide provided with a slot and recesses at each side of the slot, dies fitted in the recesses .and projected into said slot, a spring-controlled plunger vnormally supported by the dies and provided with shoulders in the form of dies opposed to those carried by the slide, and a stop for limiting the travel of the plunger, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of a reciprocative slide provided with a slot and recessed at each side of the slot, dies fitted in the recesses and projected into said slot, a plunger normally sup-. ported by the dies and provided with slioul. ders in the form of dies, opposed to those car.

ried by the slide, a horn arranged in the path of the plunger, and an anvil carried by said plunger in opposition to the horn, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination of a reciprocative slide provided with a slot and recessed on each side of the slot, dies fitted in the recessesandzprojected into said slot, a plunger normally sup- 1 ool IIO ported by the dies and provided with shoulders in the form of dies opposed to those carried by the slide, gage-plates fitted to the plunger, and a stop for limiting the travel of said plunger, substantially as set forth.

l0. The combination of reciprocative dies, a plunger provided with dies opposed to those first named, a horn opposed to the plunger, and springcontrolled gage-pins arranged in the horn, substantiallyv as set forth.

11. The combination of reciproeative dies, a plunger provided with dies opposed to those rst named, gage-plates fitted to the plunger, ahorn opposed to plunger, and springeontrolled gage-pins arranged in the horn, substantially as set forth.

12. In a machine for folding single edges of metal sheets preparatory to an interlocking and closing down of opposing folds, a diepoint having one face thereof normally at right angles to a sheet to be operated upon and the opposite face of said point beveled in a direction acute to the plane of said sheet, a die-groove corresponding in shape to and in register with the die-point, and suitable means for engaging said point and groove against the sheet, the latter being free to incline toward the non-beveled faces of the diepoint and groove when the engagement takes place, whereby a fold is formed parallel to `normally at right angles to the sheet and the opposite face beveled in a direction acute to the plane of said sheet, and suitable means for engaging both points and opposin g grooves against the sheet at the same time, whereby right and left folds are' simultaneously formed on the same sheet parallel to the non-beveled faces of the points and grooves and at acute angles to the body of said sheet, the latter being free to incline toward said non-beveled fa'ees when the engagement takes place, suhstantially7` as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I `have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in `the county ofMilwaukee and State of VVisconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS A. IVALSH. Witnesses:

S. S. STOUT, p WILLIAM KLUG. 

